Hive-switchboard.



LEWIS A. SIMMON, OF AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA.

HIVE-SWITCHBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

Application filed December 28, 1910. Serial No. 599,(369.

T opall 'whom 'it 'may cane-cm:

Be it known that I, LEWIS A. SIMMON, a citizen of the United States,residin at Auburndale, in the County of Polk and tate of Florida, haveinvented a new and useful Hive-Switchboard, of which the following is aspecification. i

This invention has relation to switch boards adapted to be used incombination with bee hives and consists in the novel construction andarrangement of its parts as hereinafter shown and described.

The object of the invention is to provide a switch board in the form ofan attachment which may be effectually used for swarming, dividing,recruiting, transferring bees and for preventing robbery of honey withinthe hive and for feeding the bees.

lVith this object in view the switch board consists of a passagewayhaving an entrance with several exits each of which may be connectedwith an individual hive. A Shiftable partition is located in thepassageway and may be so positioned as to communicate the entrance withany particular exit and shutting oti' communication from the entrancewith the other exits. In one form of the invention the said partitionmay be so positioned in the passageway as to establish a tortuous coursefrom the entrance to the exit with which the' bees in the colonybelongng in the hive become familiar for the reason that they must passfrom the hive to the open throughthe said tortuous pas sage but whichwill confuse rogues attempting to enter the hive from the open and thusprotect the contents of the hive against robbery.

In the accompanying drawing:-Figure 1 is a transverse sectional View ofthe switch board showing the same applied to two acljacent hives. Fig. 2is a horizontal sectional view of the switch board. Fig. 3 is a sideview of the switch board. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of amodified form of the switch board.

The form of the switch board as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of thedrawing 'is what might be termed a double switch board for the reasonthat it can be used in combination With two or more hives while theswitch board as illustrated in Fig. 4 is what might be termed a singleswitch board for the reason that it can be used in combination with twohives only.

In the form of the invention as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, theswitch board consists of a passage formed by a bottom 1, a top 2 andside pieces 3, a block 4 is located within the passageway approximatelymidway between the ends thereof dividing the passageway into twochambers and the side pieces 3 are provided with openings 5 which areadapted to register with the openings in the sides of the hives 6.Slides 7 are arranged to be located against the side pieces 3 over theinner ends of the opcnings 5 or may be removed from the switch board.Shiftable partitions 8 are located in the passageways through the switchboard and may be so positioned as to shut of communication between theentrance of the passageway and one of the openings 5 as an exit of thesaid passageway and establish communication between the entrance of thesaid passageway and the other. opening 5 when the slide 7 adjacentthe'last mentioned opening 5 has been removed from the board, by shifting the position of the partition S in the board. In said Figs. 1, 2 and3 the partitions are shown in the form of slides while in thearrangement as shown in Fig. 4 the partition is pivoted at its inner endand may be shifted from one side to the other of the switch board at itsouter portion.

In the form of the switch board as illustrated in Fig. 4 side pieces 3'are nounted upon the bottom piece 1' and the board is provided withopenings 5' which are adaptecl to be brought into register with theopenings of adjacent hives. The bottom iece 1' is continued beyond theside pieces orming' an alighting board 9. The partition 8' is pivotallymounted in the switch board and may be swung across the entrance to theswitch board from one of the side pieces 3' to the other whereby thepassageway through the board may be disposed from the entrance to one ofthe exits 5' or the other.

The switch board may be used as a swarming attachment in the followingmanner. Presuming that one of the hives 6 contains the colony which isabout to swarm and it is desired to transfer the said colony to theother hive 6, the queen bee is removed from the old hive and placed inthe new hive. p

Prior to this however, the hives and the' switch board are sopositio'ned that the opening A is in register with the opening in one ofthe hives, while the opening B is in register with the opening in theother hive. To distinguish the openings 5 from each other they will bereferred to as A, B, C and D as indicated in the drawing in Figs. 1, 2and 3. Presuming that the hive which contains the colony has its openingin register with the opening A and the hive to which it is desired totransfer the colony has its opening in communication with the opening B.The slide 7 over the opening A is removed and the partition 8 isdisposed so that it outs off communicationbetween the entrance of theswitch board and the opening B but leaves a free passageway from theentrance of the switch board to the opening A. The switch board and thehives are permitted to remain in this condition for several days and theslide 7 over the opening B remains closed. Then about the middle of asucceeding good day when the bees are working in the field the slide 7over the opening A is closed and the slide 7 over the opening B isremoved, The partition 8is removed from between the entrance to theswitch board and the opening B and is inserted in the switch boardbetween the entrance and the opening A. Thus when the bees return andenter the switch board they cannot pass through the opening A into theold hive but must pass through the opening B into the new line. This'hive is prepared for their reception and they begin to build therein.If enough bees are not transferred from one hive to the other upon thefirst Shift the operation is repeated as often as desired until asutficient number have been transferred. It is obvious that when theform of the switch board shown in Fig. 4: is used that the transfer ofthe bees from one hive to the other may be effected by swnging thepartition 8' from one of the side pieces 8' to the other. In fact theslides may be manipulated together with the shiftable partition in manyways to influence the bees to'accomplish the ends with which apiaristsare familiar.

The form of the switch board as shown in Fi-g. l, 2 and 3 may be used toprevent foreign bees from robbing a hive of honey by pl'acing the switchboard adjacent the hive, with for instance, the openin A in registerwith the opening in the hive. The` slide 7 overall of the openings 5except the opening A are closed and at night when all of the bees of thecolony are in the hive the partition 8 s inserted in the passagewaybetween the opening A and the entrance of the switch board but is spacedfrom the block 4 at its inner end. Thus the next morning the bees whichconsttute the colony pass 'out 'of the hive through the opening A andmust pass around the inner end of the partition 8 to pass out of theswitch board into the open. Thus they learn the tortuous path from thehive to the open but when the rogue bees approach and attempt to enterthe hive they find that this cannot be done unless they pass backthrough the switch board and behind the edge of the partition 8. Thisthey will refuse to do and herefore the honey is protected againstrobery.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing, the switch board may beprovided at one of its side edges with a cleat 9 whereby the said switchboard can be Secured to the side of a hive with its openings 5'inregister with the openings in the said hive. The hive at the other endof the switch board may be moved up in close 'contact with the saidswitch board as illustrated in Fig. l. Also the bottom board lof thedevice is extended slightly beyond 'the ends of the side faces 3 and maybe used by the bees as alighting boards. It is of course to beunderstood that when the switch board is used for transferring a colonyfrom one hive to another a bee exit device may be used in the chamber ateither end of the switch board, whereby the bees are free to pass out ofa hive and are restrained' against entering the same again. When it isdesired to use the switch board for the purpose of 'feeding a colony ofbees, the said board is provided in its top with an openingll over whicha cover 12 may be passed when the board is not used as a feeder Into theopening ll is inserted the mouth of an inverted receptacle 10 having aforaminous closure 14. That end of the passage-way over which the saidreceptacle 10 is located is closed by means of a panel 13 or 'itsequivalent. Therefore, the bees may enter and pass out of the hive atthe opposite end' of the switch board from that at which the receptacleis mounted, but when the bees are in need of food, they may enter thepassageway through the openings 5 at that end. of the board over whichthe said receptacle 10 is located and take food from the` saidreceptacle through the openings provided 'in the closure 14:. Thus thefood is accessible to the members of the colony but is protected againstrogues.

Having described the invention 'what I claim as new and desire *tosecure by' Letters Patent is 1. A bee switch board comprising "abod'yprovided with an entrance and separated exits, a means for closing' eachof the exits and a shiftable partition located in the body between theexits and adapted to be moved to establish a passageway from theentrance to one of the exits and close the passageway from the entranceto the other exit and vice versa.

2, A bee switch board comprising a body I having a closed side andprovided with an In testimony that I claim the fore ong as entrance andan exita partition movably my own, I have hereto aflixed my sgnature 10mounted in the body and adapted to be I in the presence of twowitnesses. ter losed between the entrance and the ext LEWIS A SIMMON witits inner end spaced from the closed side of the body whereby a tortuousroute Wtnesses: is maintained between the entrance and the FREDTI-IOMAS, exit. F. T. HUBBARD. &m

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G."

